You're right, Ron, and that's an important factor. Blagojevich did rev up his efforts to line his pockets before the new reforms went into effect on Jan. 1, and that in itself probably hastened is being exposed for corruption.

I actually think Blagojevich is not just extremely corrupt but also mentally unstable - perhaps even delusional.    Not unlike Nixon.   Somehow he convinced himself that he could not only shake down contract bidders, current office holders and would-be office holders in exchange for designated funds, appointments, etc., but that he could talk openly about this stuff on the phone while inviting both legal and illegal eavesdropping and wire taps.   Pretty crazy, IMO.

Did he, like Nixon, think that because he was acting as a chief executive whatever he did was legal?